Varun Duggirala on the Audio Content Revolution for brands & creators

Varun Duggirala sheds light on the rise of audio content in India, the content revolution through audio streaming platforms, and what it means for brands and creators who wish to be a part of this wave.

As a consistent podcaster, Varun Duggirala, CCO/Co-Founder, The Glitch sheds light on some interesting insights on the rise in demand for audio content in India, monetization techniques, partnerships, and much more.

The Rise of Audio Content

Speaking about the factors that led to the growth of audio content in India, Duggirala explains that audio is a passive way of consuming content, one can always plug in and multitask while listening to it. As people continue to Work-From-Home, it is easier to create audio content with less equipment. “It is intimate but not forceful, that is how it grew”, he shares.

From podcasts to now Clubhouse, the options in audio content are endless. Listeners started coming to podcasts when some prominent YouTubers started creating content on the medium. That is when a major portion of the audience got exposed to this form of content, he says. From Ranveer to Amit Verma, there were several creators who pushed podcasting ahead.

As the medium witnesses a progression and increase in traction in the last two years, even brands/platforms started investing in it. “When platforms started investing in podcasts is when it actually started gaining engagement”, Duggirala explains. This also paved way for regional podcast content and further growth in its consumption.

Discoverability

With a plethora of channels, the discoverability of podcast content is a problem. But over time you can be discovered, he says, as you scale your podcast with more content. “It took me over 100-episodes to get noticed”, he exclaims.

"Focus on a set of audience that will listen to your podcast, there is no podcast that works for everyone" Duggirala.

Further, for discovery, you can always create videos of you recording the podcast and put it on YouTube. Joe Rogan's popularity is a testimony to how well this technique works.

Live Audio v/s Podcasts

For the newbies looking to kickstart their own channel, Duggirala highlights some of his preferred choice of podcasting platforms include Anchor, Hubhopper, Saavn, and Spotify.

With the launch of other mediums such as clubhouse, Twitter spaces, Spotify Greenrooms, amongst others, coupled with the existing mediums such as Radio, how will all the formats sustain? To this, Duggirala explains that all can exist as with the Internet, you can be everywhere.

Further, he shares, “There are no rules about podcasting anymore, everybody is doing everything. A conversation in a Clubhouse club can also be turned into a podcast.”

Also read: #SMLive Season 5: A lineup of thought-leading sessions to celebrate World Social Media Day

Monetization

Duggirala shares that traditional and newer ways to monetize a podcast for brands and marketers. Earlier, individual content creators started podcasts to share content. But brands especially from the Fintech and BFSI sectors, investing in the medium, brought the onset of sponsors for podcasts, he shares.

Some of the main ways to generate revenue through the medium include:

• Ad spots and sponsored podcasts
• Workshops on various subjects through podcasts
• Building a part of your business around podcast channels
• Strong audience-base
• The subscription-based revenue model for your audience
• Building additional services such as unedited episodes for premium subscribers

As brands continue to invest in the medium, Duggirala explains that from the brand side, look at audio very differently in terms of metrics and content. It is important to decide the estimated metrics before finalizing on the brand collaborations.

Distribution

In terms of content distribution, Duggirala quips that you need to be on all platforms to reach more people.

Further, it becomes important how people weave in other platforms in their communication and use them with their content for more reach and engagement. For example, making Twitter threads out of the podcasts, trimming clips from the podcast, and posting on Instagram Reels are a few ways to create surrounding content to make sure more and more people discover you, he says.

Audio Trends

With podcasts and social audio content properties, the medium seems to be tapping on to more and more audiences with time. Duggirala encapsulates some of the key trends that stand out:

• With programmatic coming into podcasts, monetization will become easier for all podcasters
• Branded content will increase across these content spaces
• Building engagement through more conversations where brands can come in
• Building strong communities leveraging social audio content

Varun shared the Live Stage on Day 1 of Social Samosa’s marque property SM Live.

You can watch the complete episode here:

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